Dewar expected to announce NDP leadership bid

OTTAWA — New Democrat MP Paul Dewar has called a press conference for Sunday, a likely sign he will enter the race to be the next NDP leader.

The 48-year-old remained coy in the halls of Parliament Wednesday but said he was planning to make “an announcement” Sunday afternoon at a downtown Ottawa hotel.

“On Sunday at one o’clock I invited friends and supporters to come to the Lord Elgin. We have an open party. I’m a pretty open guy,” said Dewar who was sporting a new haircut.

“It’s something that I will announce on Sunday and everyone will know on Sunday.”

Dewar has represented Ottawa Centre since 2006, and is currently the NDP’s foreign affairs critic. Should Dewar decide to enter the leadership race, he will have to step aside from his critic’s role during the campaign.

Dewar has introduced more than 20 private member’s bills, four of which were later adopted by the government, including bills phasing out incandescent light bulbs, protecting Gatineau Park, just north of Ottawa, and opening up the National Capital Commission — a Crown Corporation that administers federally owned lands and buildings in the Ottawa area — to public scrutiny.

He’s also organized “summits” on cycling and the arts, championed the cause of Nortel pensioners and sponsored a bill to increase access by developing nations to life-saving drugs. The bill died in the Senate before the federal election in May, but is likely to be re-introduced by another NDP MP.

Dewar, who is not bilingual, said his comprehension is fine, but his conversation skills need work. He said he’ll continue taking lessons and does sometimes do media interviews in French.

Former party president Brian Topp and Quebec MP Romeo Saganash are the only declared candidates in the leadership race.

Thomas Mulcair, the NDP’s Quebec lieutenant, has not confirmed he will enter the race, but has suggested he would face an uphill battle because of the party’s low membership numbers in Quebec, where he has strong support after serving as the provincial environment minister before entering federal politics in 2007 by winning a former Liberal stronghold in a Montreal byelection.

MPs Peter Julian, Robert Chisholm and Peggy Nash are also considering bids.

The next New Democrat leader will be chosen in Toronto on March 24, 2012.